New Year, Old Monster
New Year, Old Monster is the third episode of the first season of Unmask Them, Scooby Doo!. Premise The gang goes to a Khmer New Year Festival where a Ta'Moap is terrorizing anyone who goes near the temple. Plot It's around sunset. Two teenage boys are hiding behind a rock at the Khmer New Year Festival. "Ok, you ready Kiri?" one of them asked. They peek over the rock where a group of girls are talking. "Haha! I was born ready Borey!" Kiri replied. "Ok, you have the shaving cream?" Borey asked. "Um, wait, where is it? I just had it," Kiri panicked. "Well we can't spray them with shaving cream without shaving cream," Borey said upset. A hand taps Borey's back then hands him the shaving cream. "Thanks Kiri, let's do th-" Borey looks at Kiri who is staring behind them. "Borey, look behind you," Kiri said quietly. Borey turns around, revealing a man behind them with rice winnowing baskets on both of his hands. He is wearing only a loincloth with a rice pounder between his legs as he floats. The two scream. "It's the Ta'Moap!" Kiri yells with fear. The Ta'Moap screeches as he runs at the boys. --- The gang is driving down a long road around sunset. "So what is the plan today?" Scooby asks Fred. Fred shrugs. "Huh?!" Everyone except Fred exclaims. "For once, we can just relax on a nice drive, seeing nature, listening to some pretty groovy music, an-" Fred stops. The gang sees two older men on the side of the rode. They are trying to get a car to start, obviously failing. Fred rolls the Mystery Machine up to the two. "Um, hello there, I'm Fred and this is Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, and, um, Daphne," Fred says as he looks at Daphne. "Hi there. We were driving to the Khmer New Year festival, when our car broke down," One of the men says. "We could give you guys a lift if you want!" Fred exclaims. "Sure! Also, I'm Samay and this is Vireak," Samay says as Vireak stares blankly. "Wait a minute, what is a Khmer New Year?" Shaggy questions. "Well you see-" Velma is interrupted. "It's like Chinese New Year but for Khmer people," Samay replies. "Oh that makes sense!" Shaggy exclaims. "Yup, definitely!" Scooby agrees. Velma mumbles, "Hmmph, I know things about Khmer New Year too," --- The gang are driving into the Khmer Temple Grounds. There are multiple cars parked in the sandy space. "Wow, so this is a Khmer New Year Festival!" Daphne says with glee. "Thanks for taking us. If you need anybody to tell you anything, just ask Kaliyan! She is the one making sure the festival is in order," Samay says as he walks off with Vireak. "Well, Well, Well! Me and Scoob smell some food, so were going to go look for it!" Shaggy says as he walks off. After Scooby and Shaggy run off, a woman who is wearing a traditional Khmer dress walks up to the gang. "Hello there! I'm Kaliyan, I suppose you are here to solve the mystery of the Ta-Moap?" She asks Fred. "Mystery?!" Velma exclaims. "Ta-Moap?" Fred exclaims with confusion. "HERE?!" Daphne screams for no reason. The three give an odd glance to Daphne. "Yes, there is the spirit called a Ta-Moap haunting the Festival. My son saw him when he was with his friend," Kaliyan explains. "What does this Ta-Moap look like?" Fred asks. "T''a - Moap ban tow chea preahvinhnhean borsa del haoh daoy braebreasa kantrak winnow angkor. Lok ban mean pounder angkor rveang cheung robsa keat''," Velma explains in Khmer. Fred and Kaliyan look at Velma shocked. "Um wow! She can actually speak it!" she said. "The Ta-Moap is a male spirit that flies using rice winnowing baskets. He also has a rice pounder between his legs," Samay explained in amazement. "Say, where does the Ta-Moap attack?" Fred asked. "It attacks around the food stands from what I have heard," Kaliyan says. "Scooby and Shaggy!" Daphne and Fred yell. "Scooby ning mean rom penh khluon!" repeats what they say. --- Scooby and Shaggy are waiting in line of a food tent. "Like I wonder what food they'll have?" Shaggy wondered. Shaggy and Scooby step up to order. "Like, what do you have to eat?" Shaggy aks the man. "We have meatballs on a stick, beef on a stick, chicken on a stick, stuffed chicken, shrimp eggrolls, chicken eggrolls, papaya salad, pho, and a fan favorite, durian!" the man says as he holds out a small fruit. Scooby and Shaggy both grab one and smell it. "Eww!" Scooby says in disgust. "Like, yuck! No thanks!" Shaggy agrees. "Try it! It's good!" the man says with a friendly grin on his face. Shaggy and Scooby whimper as they run off. "Like Scoob, I can't believe he tried to make us eat that yucky food!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Yeah, who does he think he is?" Scooby said in agreement. "Like let's try that shack over there!" Shaggy says feeling better. They walk over to a small wooden shack with a dark opening for somebody to give food. "Um hello? Anybody here?" Scooby asked impatiently. Suddenly two glowing eyes come open in the shack. "Um like, I think we can do without food," Shaggy whimpered. The Ta-Moap bursts out of the shack screeching. "Like, I agree!" Scooby says. The two then run off as the Ta-Moap chases them. --- Velma and Fred are sitting on chairs along with other people in a crowd. "I wonder what happened to Daphne," Fred asks with a frustrated tone. Kaliyan walks up onto a stage in front of the crowd with a microphone. "Hello every! Happy Khmer New Year! Today, we have our newest member of the dance troop, Daphne!" Kaliyan said with a smile on her face. Daphne and a few Khmer girls come out and dance to classic Khmer music. Daphne wears a traditional Khmer dress. Fred facepalms as Velma smiles at the performance. "Daphne always has something crazy to do," Fred sighs in disappointment. "Yeay, bonte nowpel nih vea chea avei del rikreay nasa!" Velma states happily. Fred looks back at a Khmer man. "Um, what did she say?" Fred asks confused. "She said that she enjoys what that new girl is doing," the younger man says. Fred sighs as he is very confused. --- Shaggy and Scooby are walking towards the edge of the festival grounds as they see a farmer on the other side of the gate. He is wearing overalls and a traditional farmer's straw hat. "Hey there! You fellas' must be here for the festival!" the Farmer says to the two. "Yeah, were Shaggy and Scooby! Who are you?" Shaggy asks the man. "Oh, I'm Buck! I was just watering my plants, the usual," he says holding a hose. "Well, we're gonna go find our friends, nice seeing you!" Shaggy said as he and Scooby left. The two walk off as Buck waves nicely to them. --- Fred, Daphne, and Velma are walking in the Vendor Area when they see Scooby and Shaggy. "Hey, where have you guys been?" Daphne asks with a Khmer accent. "Daphne?! You too!?" Fred questions angrily. "Um, we saw this monster. It chased us away from the food stands. Also, we met this nice farmer dude." Shaggy explained. "Yeah, nice!" Scooby agreed. Suddenly the Ta-Moap lands from the sky right behind Scooby and Shaggy. They don't know it's there. "Um guys, you know what is terrifying?" Fred asked. "Like what?" Shaggy replied. "Ta-Moap!" Velma screams. The gang screams as the run into a couple of porta-potties. "Phew, is it gone?" Scooby asks. Scooby opens the door to see Samoy waiting. Scooby steps out as Samoy goes in. The rest of the gang come out of the porta-potties as well. "Au khnhom kitthea khnhom ban daohsray kreante ampi koumrong kar nih!" Velma states in Khmer. "What did sh-" Fred is interrupted. "She said she thinks she solved the mystery," Samoy says from the bathroom. "Um, ok, let's start a trap!" Fred says heroically. --- Scooby and Shaggy are inside a Vendor Tent with a sign that says, "Free Durian!" in sloppy handwriting. "Ugh, why did it have to be Durian?" Scooby says with disgust. "Of everything, it HAD to be Durian! Like THANKS Fred!" Shaggy glumly exclaims. The two plug their nose as they wait for the monster to come by. Suddenly, the two hear footsteps. "Like, what was that?!" Shaggy questions scared. Something taps the two's shoulders. "Scoob, quit messing around!" Shaggy yells. "Hey, you stop it!" Scoob says back. A low growling comes from behind the two. As the two run, they see the Ta-Moap. "It's the Ta-Moap!" the two cowards yell. "Run guys!" Fred says to the gang. "Yeay!" Velma agrees in Khmer. Chase Scene Starts Velma is running away from the Ta-Moap. She grabs two cans of shaving cream and begins to spray it continuously at the Ta-Moap. He falls back as Velma gets away. Daphne and Fred are running from the Ta-Moap in the Stage Area. She begins to dance as she realizes there is music playing and Fred and Ta-Moap disapprovingly shake their heads. The Ta-Moap then begins to chase the two again. Scooby and Shaggy are running from the monster near the Food Vendors. They are cornered between the Ta-Moap and a Durian Fruit Stand. Scooby and Shaggy then run towards the monster instead, and the monster looks confused until it sees what they run from, and he follows after them. Fred runs away from the creature as it follows him. He then throws meatballs on a stick at the Ta-moap as it runs away. Chase Scene Ends --- The gang are in the Porta-Potties once again. "Ok gang meeting!" Fred says. "Well, I did realized that there was some straw on the feet of the Ta-Moap when it flew away from me," Velma stated. "Your back to normal!" Shaggy said. "Yeah, I realized it didn't help I was speaking Khmer," Velma says. "How are we supposed to find the monster then?" Daphne asks. A few kids can be heard outside screaming. "Hey! They're about to play Steal the Bacon!" one of the kids says. "Bacon!" Shaggy and Scooby scream as they run out to follow the kids. "Maybe the monster will show up there," Velma brought up. "Let's follow them," Fred suggests. --- There is a group of people watching as two teams of seven compete in Steal the Bacon. One of the kids loses a point. "I quit! This sucks anyways!" He yells as he walks off. "We need a new player!" the referee calls. Suddenly, the Ta-Moap shows up. It begins to screech. "Hey you! You're playing, get in line!" the referee tells the monster as it listens. "Like Scoob, you and the Ta-Moap are both number 7! You have to stop it," Shaggy says scared. "I got this Shaggy," Scooby replies. "Stay strong!" Shaggy comforts. "Number...7!" The referee calls. The Ta-Moap grabs the rag. "Not today monster, I, Scooby Dooby Doo shall defeat the monster!" Scooby says as he tackles the Ta-Moap. The Ta-Moap falls onto the floor as the gang crowd around the monster. "You caught the Ta-Moap! But who is it?" Kaliyan asks. "It was actually quite simple, the Ta-Moap was really-" Velma delays. "Buck!" everyone says when Velma pulls off the mask. "Our first clue was that Buck was attacking with the costume at sunset, while the Ta-Moap is a nocturnal spirit, meaning it was fake," Velma explained. "And Velma realized that there was straw on the Ta-Moap. Buck had a straw hat, explaining the straw," Fred explains. "But why?" Shaggy asks. "It's simple, Buck has been trying to get the Khmer Temple out to get more farmland for a long time. Isn't that right?" Velma asks. "Yeah, and I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!" He shouts in anger. Police take him away in a police car. "Thanks for saving us Scooby! Please have some Durian!" the man from the food stand says again. "I guess," Scooby gives in. Scooby and Shaggy eat a piece and there eyes widen. "Hey, this is pretty, good!" Shaggy says happily. "Yeah! More please?" Scooby requests. "Sorry, that is the last of it," the man says glumly. "OH COME ON!" Scooby Screams as the episode ends. Writers Note The Ta-Moap is probably the oddest monster that will be in the series. Probably. Also, feel free to leave a review! Locations The Khmer New Year Festival Suspects Culprits Notes/Trivia * Daphneism: Becoming a Khmer Dancer. Home Media Category:Episodes Category:Unmask Them, Scooby Doo! Category:ElChupacabraoftheSnow's Stuff